2. Resurrection Appearances, Friendship, and the Nature of Envy in God

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Multiple Resurrection Appearances #

• The Gospels record at least ten appearances across the four accounts
• Five appearances occur on the day of Resurrection in Jerusalem: to Mary Magdalene, to the women, to Peter/Cephas, to disciples on the road to Emmaus, and to the apostles (without Thomas)
• Additional appearances: Thomas with the disciples, appearance at Tiberius, the mountain appearance with the Great Commission, and the Ascension
• St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 mentions three further appearances: to James, to approximately five hundred believers, and to Paul himself
• Matthew’s reference to Galilee does not contradict the Jerusalem appearances; the Galilee appearance comes after the initial five
• The women depart from the sepulchre with both “fear and great joy,” representing the spiritual transition from darkness to light, from the old law to the new

Friendship Free from Envy #

• True friendship is distinguished by the absence of envy—a person rejoices genuinely in another’s good fortune without perceiving it as diminishing their own
• The father-son relationship serves as the paradigm: a father naturally takes delight in his son’s accomplishments without envy
• Both Homer (in descriptions of Priam mourning Hector) and Shakespeare recognize this father-son model as the measure of genuine friendship
• Shakespeare’s Sonnet 37 depicts a decrepit father taking comfort in his active son’s deeds without envy; the speaker applies this same model to his friendship with another man

The Impossibility of Envy in God #

• Envy is fundamentally a form of sadness—the sadness that arises when one perceives another’s good as diminishing one’s own
• Since sadness cannot exist in God’s nature (God is pure actuality and perfection), envy likewise cannot exist in God
• God cannot perceive the good of another as diminishing His own good; rather, all goods reflect and participate in God’s excellence
• Therefore, it is metaphysically impossible for God the Father to envy God the Son
• The Father naturally rejoices in the Son’s glory as an expression of His own divine nature

The Father-Son Relationship as Model of Friendship Among Unequals #

• Aristotle (in Nicomachean Ethics) distinguishes between friendship among equals and friendship among unequals
• The father-son relationship exemplifies friendship among unequals
• However, in the case of God the Father and God the Son, a unique situation obtains: they are one in nature but distinct in person
• The Father can regard the Son as “another self” not merely in analogy but in profound reality, since they share the divine nature
• This makes the divine friendship immune to envy in a way that human father-son friendship, while superior, still cannot fully match

Friendship as Natural and Foundational #

• Friendship is natural to human beings, evident in parent-child relationships, tribal bonds, and ultimately extending to all humanity
• In Aristotle’s account, friendship is a virtue and affective virtue, foundational to political philosophy and human society
• No one wishes to live without friends; friendship is necessary for the poor and the wealthy alike, serving various practical and spiritual purposes
• The natural basis of friendship suggests it belongs to natural philosophy, not merely ethics, since it reflects human nature itself

Key Arguments #

Reconciliation of Gospel Accounts #

• Problem: Matthew’s account seems to suggest Christ was not seen until the Galilee appearance, yet other Gospels record Jerusalem appearances
• Solution: Matthew focuses on the Galilee appearance as particularly significant but does not exclude earlier appearances. The Gospels collectively testify to five Jerusalem appearances on Resurrection day, with the Galilee appearance coming subsequently
• Evidence: Luke 24:33-34 mentions the apostles finding the eleven gathered, saying “The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon”; 1 Corinthians 15:4-5 confirms appearances to Cephas and then the twelve

The Metaphysical Impossibility of Divine Envy #

• Premise 1: Envy is a species of sadness (a negative passion)
• Premise 2: No negative passion or defect can exist in God’s pure actuality
• Conclusion: Therefore, envy cannot exist in God
• Additional argument: God perceives all good as flowing from and reflecting His own excellence; therefore, the good of any creature cannot be perceived as diminishing God’s good
• Theological consequence: The Father’s rejoicing in the Son’s glory is not reluctant or qualified but absolute and constitutive of the divine life itself

Why True Friendship Requires Freedom from Envy #

• A person who envies sees another’s success as a threat or diminishment to himself
• True friendship requires recognizing the friend’s good as genuinely good and worthy of rejoicing, not as competitive with one’s own good
• The father naturally views his son as an extension of himself (“another self”), making envy psychologically impossible
• This natural inclination in human fathers reflects and images the absolute freedom from envy that characterizes the divine nature

Important Definitions #

• Envy: A form of sadness arising from perceiving another’s good as diminishing one’s own; impossible in any perfectly actualized being or in God
• Friendship (philia): A virtue and affective virtue characterized by mutual goodwill and the absence of envy; foundational to human society and political community
• Another self (alter ego): The way a friend is regarded in genuine friendship, particularly how a father naturally regards his son; the friend’s good is perceived as one’s own good
• Friendship among unequals: Aristotle’s category for friendships between those of different status, age, or virtue; the father-son relationship exemplifies this type
• Transmigration: The spiritual movement or transformation from one state to another (e.g., from darkness to light, from sin to grace)

Examples & Illustrations #

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 37 #

Berquist quotes extensively from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 37, which depicts a decrepit father (the speaker himself, made lame by fortune) taking all his comfort in his friend’s worth and truth:

“As a decrepit father takes delight / To see his active child do deed of new, / Right? So I, made lame by fortune’s dearest spite, / Take all my comfort of thy worth and truth.”

The speaker explicitly states he is free of envy and, rather than envying his friend’s good fortune, he “grafts” his love into it, making the friend’s abundance his own through friendship. This illustrates how genuine friendship involves rejoicing in the friend’s good without diminishment to oneself.

Homer’s Parallel #

Berquist notes that Homer employs the identical father-son simile when describing Priam’s grief over Hector’s death, suggesting that both Homer and Shakespeare recognized the father-son relationship as the natural paradigm for friendship free from envy. This cross-cultural parallel reinforces the philosophical point.

The Scientist’s Desire for Unique Honor #

Berquist observes how modern scientists sometimes contest over credit for discoveries, each wishing to be “uniquely honored” for the discovery and resisting the need to share the Nobel Prize. This illustrates how envy (or the desire for undimmed honor) can corrupt human relationships even in the pursuit of knowledge, contrasting with the generous spirit of true friendship.

The Commandment to Honor Father and Mother #

Berquist reflects on the position of the commandment to honor father and mother in the Decalogue—placed immediately after the commandments concerning God and before the prohibition against murder. This positioning suggests the foundational and natural importance of familial relationships and filial piety. The lecture hints at connections between honoring parents (because they gave life) and respecting life itself, including implications for abortion.

Notable Quotes #

“For whether beauty, birth, or wealth, or wit, / Or any of these all or all or more, / Entitled in thy parts to crown it sit, / I make my love and graft it to the store.” - Shakespeare, Sonnet 37

This passage captures the essence of friendship free from envy: the friend’s good is so integrated into one’s own love that one’s own glory depends upon and is enhanced by the friend’s flourishing.

“Your friend is another self.” - Aristotelian maxim, cited by Berquist

This definition encapsulates why envy between true friends is psychologically impossible; to envy one’s friend would be to envy oneself.

“God cannot see the good of another as diminishing his own good.”

This Thomistic principle grounds the metaphysical impossibility of envy in God and explains why the Father’s joy in the Son’s glory is absolute and unqualified.

Questions Addressed #

How can the different Gospel accounts of the Resurrection be reconciled? #

• Resolution: The accounts are not contradictory but selective. Matthew emphasizes the Galilee appearance; Luke and Paul emphasize Jerusalem appearances on the day of Resurrection. All occurred; the Gospels simply highlight different appearances depending on theological emphasis.

Why does envy seem natural to humans but is impossible in God? #

• Resolution: Envy arises from the false perception that another’s good diminishes one’s own—a perception rooted in the finitude and scarcity consciousness of creatures. God, being infinite and the source of all good, cannot labor under this illusion. Moreover, envy is a passion (negative emotion), and God is impassible.

Can God the Father and God the Son have genuine friendship despite their divine unity? #

• Resolution: Yes, more perfectly than any human friendship. While human fathers and sons are two distinct substances (two men), the Father and Son are one substance (one God) but distinct in person. This means the Son is truly “another self” to the Father in a metaphysically fuller sense than any human friend can be to another. Thus, envy is not merely absent but metaphysically inconceivable.

Why is the father-son relationship the paradigm of friendship free from envy? #

• Resolution: Because the father naturally perceives the son as an extension of himself (“another self”), an expression of his own life and being. The son’s success is experienced as the father’s success; the son’s honor redounds to the father. This psychology makes envy unnatural and psychologically impossible.

What is the relationship between friendship being natural and its belonging to natural philosophy? #

• Resolution: If friendship is rooted in human nature (as evidenced by its presence in parent-child bonds and across all human communities), then it belongs properly to natural philosophy alongside other natural phenomena, though it also falls within ethics as a virtue.

Connections #

To Aristotelian Ethics #

Berquist’s discussion of friendship explicitly engages with Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, particularly the distinction between friendship among equals and friendship among unequals (with the father-son relationship as primary example). The lecture applies Aristotelian categories to divine friendship, showing how the Father-Son relationship both exemplifies and transcends Aristotelian friendship.

To Thomistic Metaphysics #

The argument against divine envy depends fundamentally on Thomas Aquinas’s teaching on God’s simplicity and immutability. Berquist references Thomas’s position that envy is impossible in God and that God cannot perceive another’s good as diminishing His own—principles rooted in Thomistic understanding of divine perfection and actuality.

To Christian Theology #

The lecture explores the theological implications of the Trinity, particularly how the Father and Son can be one God while distinct persons, and how this affects understanding of divine love and the absence of competition or envy within the Godhead. This connects to broader theological reflection on the nature of the Trinity and divine charity.